My weekend (in brief)

[dnb]

I spent most of it either laid under a TVR or attacking certain parts with a large hammer...

(Apart from the time I spent go-karting )

I set out to fit soem poly bushes so I can attempt to drive the Milltiary Road at "slightly more than walking pace" What fun I've had.

After scraping the waxoyl off the lower wishbones, I discovered that they're in a bit of a sorry state and there's a crack in one anti-roll bar mounting



The uppers aren't too bad - they just needed a wash and neither are the lowers are pretty good after a couple of hours with the grinder... The crack wasn't a problem either.


What a horribly job! I hate suspension bushes! Steve Heath was right - let someone else do it. As you can see from the pic, I wasn't defeated.


Now the painting... Not looking too bad. I should have a working Griffith by tomorrow. Just the braided hoses, new discs and pads to go on...



>> Edited by dnb on Monday 9th May 12:13

[starmist]

Very nice. I went through the same my self a couple of months ago, and would not look forward to doing it again. A bitch of a job. Are you doing the rears as well?

Don't forget to get the camber checked once you've reassembled it all!

[johno]

Got a friend with a press .... take off bits, take to the man, he presses them out and gives them back a couple of hours later and a few quid richer ... me happy. Haven't spent £9k on drills, still have knuckles etc etc ..

Must do the Griffith this winter ...

[dnb]

Yes, I'm doing the rears - but not for a couple of weeks! (I need to recover!!)

[zhastaph]

Hi ya Dave, you've beat me to it!!!

I'm about to tackle exactly the same job on the Esprit with the intention of removing some of the movement (clonking etc) I can feel in a couple of the wheels.

Good job BTW

>> Edited by zhastaph on Monday 9th May 21:39

[dnb]

About time I beat you to doing a job on a car...

Here's a couple more pics

The brakes were looking tired, so I cleaned up the calipers. There's new discs, red stuff ceramic pads and Goodridge hoses to go back on as well.



Here's the lower wishbones with the bushes in...
It's much easier to pit new ones in than take old ones out!!

[mongoose]

Lovely job done there David.I bet that felt rewarding to finish.

[zhastaph]

Paint as well

Looking good, you'll be pleased with the brakes, the new red stuff pads are a world apart from the old ones

[DustyC]

Well done for the effort in both the work and posting it all here. Looks like you had the weather for it at least.

[dnb]

zhastaph said:

Paint as well

I do get around to painting stuff sometimes...
You never know, the next tin of paint might be green...

[simon.b]

Getting the new bushes in, how easy is easy, Socket and G clamp easy or Vice ?

Cheers,

Simon.

[simon.b]

I took both my front uppers and right hand lower off the other week for the same refurb job. Both the upper rear bushes were shot, I didn’t spot this until the wishbones were off, so as a temp fix I just replaced the rubber sleeve with some 3/8 bore Hydraulic hose. Sounds daft but it worked a treat and I needed the car back on the road quick as she was booked in for a service the following week.

Getting the drop links back on was a real pain, does anybody know the easy way.

Cheers,

Simon.

[spend]

IIRC drop links go on easy, if you do it before connecting the damper.

Dave

[beano500]

Well that looks like a worthwhile effort!

I have to say that the anti-roll bars were perhaps the only recurring "feature" on that car. I've no idea why (nor could Dave Batty give me any answer) as I have always been reasonably empathetic towards suspension, IMHO. Although I noticed that my weight did increase somewhat over the course of my relationship with that Griff !

Looking forward to hear what it will really "do" on that military road......

[dnb]

Brakes are nearly bedded in now, so I can begin to test the car properly.

I'm very impressed with the poly bushes and the red stuff pads. Millitary road is fun again. Let's just say it can be driven significantly faster now.

And the suspension doesn't clonk and rattle at all now.

Now I've found I need some pads on the back... I can see a repeat of this thread for the back coming on...